Blood Donors Can Be Heroes, For More Than One Day

To help halt a decline in regular blood donors NHSBT is appealing for people to â€˜come backâ€™ and register to donate during this yearâ€™s National Blood Week, with a new poster campaign inspired by 2013â€™s come-back king David Bowie. Actresses Claire Sweeney, Dawn Steele, and Pooja Shah have re-created Bowieâ€™s iconic Aladdin Sane album shot to encourage people to â€˜come backâ€™ and register.Each celebrity has a personal connection to blood donation. Claireâ€™s brother is alive due to blood transfusions, Dawn received one after the birth of her daughter and Pooja has been a regular donor for years. (PRNewsFoto/NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT))

To help halt a decline in regular blood donors NHSBT is appealing for people to â€˜come backâ€™ and register to donate during this yearâ€™s National Blood Week, with a new poster campaign inspired by 2013â€™s come-back king David Bowie. Actresses Claire Sweeney, Dawn Steele, and Pooja Shah have re-created Bowieâ€™s iconic Aladdin Sane album shot to encourage people to â€˜come backâ€™ and register.Each celebrity has a personal connection to blood donation. Claireâ€™s brother is alive due to blood transfusions, Dawn received one after the birth of her daughter and Pooja has been a regular donor for years. (PRNewsFoto/NHS BLOOD AND TRANSPLANT (NHSBT))

LONDON, June 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Bowie-inspired poster appeals for donors to 'come back' during National Blood Week (10-16 June 2013)

To help halt a decline in regular blood donors NHS Blood and Transplant is appealing for people to 'come back' and register to donate during this year's National Blood Week, with a new celebrity poster campaign inspired by this year's come-back king David Bowie.

Each celebrity has a personal connection to blood donation. Claire's brother and Wendi's husband are both alive due to blood transfusions, Dawn received one after the birth of her daughter and Pooja has been a regular donor for years.

Claire Sweeney said: "My brother's still here today thanks to a blood transfusion so I know how important it is. Giving blood saves lives - you really can be a hero, for more than one day. So if you haven't donated for a while or ever before do consider coming forward to register."

Over the last decade the number of regular donors has fallen by almost a quarter (23%). The decline has been highest among people in their 30s, with a 48% drop. Lack of time is a barrier to donation for 9% of people, and for more than one in ten (11%)** not knowing what's involved has stopped them from donating.

Jon Latham, Assistant Director of Marketing at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "For this year's National Blood Week, we're asking people to come back and give blood. We need a steady supply of blood, which has a short shelf life, to help save and improve patient lives. To achieve this we need a large group of regular donors, so we hope David Bowie isn't the only one making a welcome return this summer."

Anyone aged between 17-65, weighing more than 50kg (7st 12lbs) and in general good health could potentially start saving lives by becoming a blood donor. There is no upper age limit for donors who have donated in last two years.

For more information or to speak to a case study blood donor or recipient or a relevant spokesperson, please contact the NHSBT team at The Red Consultancy:nhsbloodteam@redconsultancy.com / +44-(0)20-7025-6500